If I find myself in a situation like that, I have temporarily turned off automatically sending unknown numbers to voicemail. But about 99% of my existence is sending unknowns into the ether.
Generally I shrug off that scenario. If I need something or want something, I’m available. But if I don’t, then it’s okay to give myself permission to be unavailable.
But also, my phone number isn’t from where I currently live. Numbers that call do show up in my call logs, even if they get sent to a nonexistent voice mail. A number from my current area code may get a call back after I look up their number. But I don’t bother to look up numbers that aren’t from where I’m currently at, or numbers that call me repeatedly. Spammers use computers that automatically retry their calls, so an unreasonable number of calls immediately after one another are a dead giveaway.
Your attention is a valuable commodity. No one is entitled to it. I take a lot of steps to ensure my attention is protected from misuse - including asking a business to give me their number so I can call them first, so they’ll be ‘known’ to my phone before they try to call me.
If I find myself in a situation like that, I have temporarily turned off automatically sending unknown numbers to voicemail. But about 99% of my existence is sending unknowns into the ether.
And what if you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know to expect a call?
Generally I shrug off that scenario. If I need something or want something, I’m available. But if I don’t, then it’s okay to give myself permission to be unavailable.
But also, my phone number isn’t from where I currently live. Numbers that call do show up in my call logs, even if they get sent to a nonexistent voice mail. A number from my current area code may get a call back after I look up their number. But I don’t bother to look up numbers that aren’t from where I’m currently at, or numbers that call me repeatedly. Spammers use computers that automatically retry their calls, so an unreasonable number of calls immediately after one another are a dead giveaway.
Your attention is a valuable commodity. No one is entitled to it. I take a lot of steps to ensure my attention is protected from misuse - including asking a business to give me their number so I can call them first, so they’ll be ‘known’ to my phone before they try to call me.